Locked Out of Heaven
by Bthedancer14
Summary: Here's the story of the growth of your average adolescents...in a dying world. After the zombie outbreak, Azura Rockets is forced to survive with her two brothers, friends, and random people they pick up on the way. Btw, this is a WATTPAD story, so if you wanna see who's portraying the OCs, check it out! Please Read and Review, and be nice! Crappy summary, sorry, but enjoy!
1. Deado

"Azura, what have you gone and done?" Sapphire Raker, my best friend, was glaring at me with an exasperated look in her icy blue eyes. She was wearing a tight red dress that hugged her curves and revealed a decent amount of cleavage. Her fire red hair lay in beautiful little ringlets that reached to the small of her back. I had just walked out of the bathroom, towel-drying my now short hair. I merely shrugged at her comment and walked to my iPod. After scrolling, I clicked _A Match Into Water_by Pierce the Veil. After that, I ran to the closet and looked for a sexy/slightly slutty dress. Unfortunately, there was none to be found. "Azura Melinda Rockets, I'm NOT going to take you to Danny's party like that." Annoyed by her pessimistic attitude, I threw the wet towel out at her and shook out the beautiful locks of hair.

"Oh shut up, Sapphy. I look hot as hell; I just need a dress..." Sighing, she dug into her purse and pulled out a black halter dress with a slit. Thank god for my long legs; the beauty gods couldn't bless me with a rack, but they made good with my legs. I quickly slipped it on and admired myself in the mirror.

The girl who stood on the otherside was a beautiful Latina girl with brown eyes and skin. Her small and petite body was accentuated by the fabric and color of the dress; on her eyes were heavy eyeliner and eyeshadow, giving her an alluring look. Lastily, her former long black hair was replaced by a sexy mop of green hair, assymetrically on both sides of her hair.

"Come on, tell me like like a tramp." I challenged her and stared her right in the eye. Finally she caved and said,

"You are so popping your cherry tonight. I don't know any guy who wouldn't bang you senseless." I grinned, and she walked to the window. Near my house lay her truck, our getaway from this prison of a house. My parents had grounded me for a freaking C on my Physics test, one that I studied a whole week for. No matter what I said, they only expected A's. Right as we were about to shimmy down the house, my room door slammed against the wall, only to reveal my brother Tyrone at the door way. He inherited my mother's straight hair and chocolate brown eyes, but the rest of him was my dad. With a buzz cut, the eleven year old was wearing a Transformers t-shirt and shorts underneath with sneakers. His socks were pulled up to his knees, and his face was focused on everything but me. I immediately shoved Sapphire out of window, making her fall onto the hard ground. Not paying attention to the sudden stream of cuss words coming from outside the house, I slammed the window shut and turned to my brother.

"What do you want, Tyrone?" He said monotone,

"I want to use your phone. I'm working on a Zelda game, and I want to look at how to beat Morpheel."

"No, I'm not letting you use my phone. You should try to figure it out on your own-" I was interrupted by his voice.

"Azura, just gimme the fucking phone." I glared at him and replied,

"Tyrone, don't cuss. It's not polite." He flipped me the bird and retorted,

"Last time I checked, you weren't my mom." The amount of defiance in his eyes enraged me. Why was he so damn disrespectful to me?

"Tyrone, you need to stop-" He just ran out of the room, muttering angrily. Damn it, Tyrone. Why couldn't he be normal?

* * *

"Just to let you know, I'm majorly pissed off at you right now." After rushing outside, I had to reassure Sapphire that if she HAD to drive me to the party, despite the fact that I pushed out the window, she had all the right to push me out sometime in the near future…with no exceptions. Well, if I'm lucky, that day will never come.

"Sapphire, Tyrone walked in. If he saw you, he would have told Mom!" She just shook her head as she speed down the street. "I swear, the kid needs major help."

"Isn't he like retarded or something?" I sharply said,

"Having Asperger's syndrome doesn't automatically mean you're retarded. He's very high functioning." I was pissed off at her; what right did she have to call my brother "retarded"? She's seen him and everything! If anything, he just acts like a sullen preteen with a potty mouth. The ride remained silent until we reached a red light. She parked the car and turned to me.

"Azura, I'm sorry. That was a really dick thing to say. Tyrone's super insanely smart, but socially, the kid is stupid."

"Well, last time I checked, that's hallmark symptom of Asperger's." She sighed and said,

"Babe...can you look at me?" I kept on facing the window, refusing to acknowledge her. "BABE!" She spun my head around, forcing me to look at her. "I should have never said anything like that; it was super offensive, and I'm stupid for even voicing that." I finally looked her in the eye and whispered,

"No one can say that about Tyrone but me. You got that?" She nodded and I finally smiled. The light turned green, and she started driving once more. Excited, I started fiddling with the radio. I'm not the mainstream pop girl; I'm more of an alternative rock, post hard core, and screamo chick. It usually drives Sapphire crazy if I put on something like Sleeping With Sirens or something, but I suppose now, she will suffer in silence. Finally, I landed on alternative rock station. Andy Biersack's beautiful voice entered the car, singing _Knives and Pens_.

"Why do you like heavy metal so much?" I rolled my eyes.

"First of all, it's not HEAVY METAL. This is called 'Screamo'. Second of all, tt calms me; I'm kinda nervous...Are you sure Danny said it was ok for me to come?" She honked the horn on some slow poke in front of us and said,

"He didn't say you couldn't come..." Oh great. I groaned,

"Sapphire..." She immediately started babbling like crazy.

"Well, he originally wanted you to come with a guy friend, but I told her that you didn't have any close ones-" We were interrupted by static in the radio. She pulled over immediately and raised the volume to hear the official voice coming from the stereo.

_"PLEASE PARDON THIS INTERRUPTION. THERE IS CURRENTLY A NATIONAL EMERGENCY; PLEASE STAY INDO-"_The static came back and my song resumed. I gave her a questioning look, one that she reciprocated.

"What the hell was that, Azura?" I just shook my head. I honestly had no idea; some part of me was alarmed by the message and was already determining the amount of time it would take for me to get home. But the other side just wanted to dismiss it; I mean, what's the worst that could happen?

"Never mind that; it was probably some hoax. Just answer me this: Did he know I was coming." Her lack of response answered my question. I looked up in annoyance. "Why do I always get put in these situations?"

"Azura, it's fine. I doubt he would mind; he may be my boyfriend, but you were my best friend first. He has to get that you and me are a package deal." I noticed her pulling into a driveway and all of a sudden, my insides started churning. "Come on, it will be fun!" I shook my head and got out of the car.

"Yeah that's what you always say." I started walking to the door, shaking out my hair softly. Well, I won't let my night go to shit. Sapphire followed me quickly and texted Danny on the phone. Ten seconds later, a drunk Danny opened the door, wearing a happy smile…Until his eyes fell on me. I looked up and silently cursed the girl next to me.

"Fire, why is-" She interrupted him and said,

"I took Azura out of the house. I expect good behavior on your part, do you understand?" She walked right into his space and seductively stared at his eyes. I was immediately let in the house, and eventually, the kitchen. Tons of drunk teens surrounded me, ages fifteen to nineteen. I happened to be seventeen, right in the middle. Of course, this wasn't my first party; I've been drunk before. Anticipating a boring night, I grabbed the strongest liquor I could find and downed it in less than a minute. My brain felt like it was on fire, but I loved the escalating feeling in my stomach. "Azura, where's the tequila-Please tell me you didn't drink it." I merely giddly smiled and gestured to the bottle in my hand. She shook her head with a smile and asked, "Zura, is there anything in here?"

"Try the vodka." She did and after ten minutes, we were drunk and laughing together in the kitchen. I was about to sing "_Let it Go_" from the _Frozen_ movie when Danny came in carrying brownies. Being a chocaholic, I lunged for and devoured them with Sapphire jumping on my back, yelling "MINE!" We ended up wrestling for the brownies, a fight that had to be broken up by innocent bystanders.

There's a certain beauty to being high; it's as if someone took the world and painted it with crayons. Everywhere you look it's a portrait. Every time it happens, I always have to take a moment to sit down and enjoy the world as I see it. I felt someone else sit down beside me on the couch, and I turned my head to see this person. It was the best thing that had ever happened to me. With pale moon like skin, soft emerald green eyes gazed at my brown ones with curiosity. A guy, definitely not in high school, stood next to me with a lazy smile on his lips. At most, he had to be twenty-three, not bad for a seventeen year old chick like myself. He was wearing a black button up long sleeve with a red beanie on his perfect pitch black hair. A guy like him wouldn't probably last a week without having himself a girlfriend. That's how hot he was.

"Hey, Green." I just giggled and said,

"Hey yourself, hottie." He cracked a smile at my comment, and I deduced from my messed up head that he had to be drunk. Why else would those perfect god like eyes be staring at me?

"Well, how about you tell me your name and I tell you mine?" There was a flirtatious edge in his voice, one that made me laugh. With a super serious voice, I said,

"I'm not supposed to tell my name to strangers." He and I stared at each other for a moment and then burst out laughing. His hands reached across my shoulders, and I didn't mind. I was having too much fun.

"Ok, how about you give me a fake name then?" I thought for a moment and said,

"Vic, like Vic Fuentes from _Pierce the Veil_." He bent over with laughter, trying to keep himself quiet. "So who are you?"

"Kellin, like Kellin Quinn from _Sleeping With Sirens._" At that, we couldn't kept it in anymore; it was as if any bit of self-control we had disappeared as we howled with laughter. We would have stayed like that if not for the cop.

"POLICE OFFICERS!" The house got swarmed with cops, and I ran to the door, desperately looking for Sapphire. I couldn't get put in jail _now_! But, due to my slightly intoxicated state, I couldn't help but stumble on the way. Strong arms held my waist; I looked up to see "Kellin" holding me.

"Come on! I'll help you get to your friends; your friend is the host's girlfriend, right?" I nodded frantically, and he smiled. "I saw them run upstairs in the craziness-" Some guy grabbed his elbow and yelled,

"Man, come on! Do you want to get arrested?" He turned to me, looking completely concerned. I just smiled and kissed him on the cheek. A small blush reached his cheeks, but he reciprocated my friendliness.

"Green-" I pushed him away and said,

"Don't worry; I'll be fine." With that, I crawled upstairs and ran into a spare room, which was thankfully empty. Grateful for the lack of horny couples, I sat on the bed and waited for my head to sober up. I might have been high/drunk, but I knew my best friend and her boyfriend were probably riding each other in his room. As my mind started to clear, I heard some footsteps outside the door. Immediately fearing the worst, I dove under the bed and hid. The door opened, and I heard Sapphire's voice whisper,

"Zura, are you in here?" I gave out a breath and said,

"I'm in here. Are the cops out?" I crawled back out and saw Danny and Sapphire holding each other, looking scared. For once, Danny's eyes didn't squint up in disgust at the sight of me; instead, he had a look of obvious relief on his face. Sapphire shook her head and said,

"Nope, they're checking out the house; we've gotta go NOW." I nodded and pushed myself up, feeling dizzy. Surprisingly, strong hands held my waist, and I found myself looking into the cool green eyes of Travis, Danny's best friend. While Danny and I had a cool relationship, Travis was alright with me. We could always have a steady conversation, and while we weren't "friends", we were pretty amicable. "Let's go out the window." As he steadied me, I slurred out,

"Do you mind if I crash at your place? My mom will have my head if I come drunk and high." She snorted and replied,

"Of course you will! Let's just go before they catch us." We walked to the window and crawled out, falling on soft grass; after Travis made sure that the coast was clear, we hightailed to the car and drove off quickly. Danny drove with Travis riding shotgun while Sapphire and I stayed in the backseat, trying to shake off the effects of being high. Her boyfriend turned on the radio, and the same voice popped up:

_"THIS IS A NATIONAL EMEREGENCY! PLEASE STAY CALM AND STAY INDOORS! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ENGAGE STRANGE CHARACTERS! I REPEAT, THERE IS A NATIONAL EMERGENCY!"_ It got cut off, and the car was silent. I turned to Sapphire and whispered,

"I'm definitely staying at your place tonight!"

* * *

"Azura, wake up!" My eyes flew open to Sapphire's blue eyes and a pounding headache. I immediately groaned and held my head.

"Sapphire, next time we got to a party, keep the liquor away from me." She laughed and nodded. "What's up?" Her smile disappeared as she said,

"Something's wrong; Travis's parents aren't back." Despite our plan to crash at her place last night, we all agreed to travel to Travis's house, the closest to us. The radio warning had messed us all up, and we didn't wanna take our chances. "According to him, they should have gotten here around two in the morning." Not really caring at that moment, I said,

"What if they just crashed at a friend's house too? They must have heard the warning too and decided not to take their chances with a serial killer or something." She shrugged and held out a hand. I took it and pulled myself from the couch and yawned. Together we walked in the kitchen to find a nervous Travis cooking eggs. Danny was trying to calm him down.

"Travis, nothing's wrong. They're gonna come back." The nervous Latino shook a hand through his brown hair and I noticed that his hand was visibly shaking. He was wearing a black _Pierce the Veil _tank top and shorts. I also noticed Danny was wearing his blue t-shirt from the night before with black jeans; Sapphire had donned a blue _Doctor Who _hoodie with black skinny jeans. I looked down and noticed my black tank top and black skinny jeans. I saw that Travis, the strong independent clear headed guy, was utterly terrified. Wanting to be nice, I came up from behind and hugged him.

"Travis, I'm sure they're on their way. Don't worry." He smiled at me and said,

"Thanks, Zura." Right at that moment, the doorbell rang. We all jumped and smiled. Travis ran to the door and looked through the peephole; I followed only to hear him gasp. "Danny, something is definitely wrong." He ran in and asked,

"What do you mean? Is it your parents?" I walked to open the curtains on the windows in order to see who the visitors were, but Travis held me back. His eyes held fear and worry; right before I could see what was going on, the door knob started turning. I looked at Sapphire and mouthed,

"GET A KNIFE." She nodded vigorously and obeyed. She came back with a huge steak knife and handed it to me. I held it in my hands and whispered, "Open the door." I wasn't sure about the others, but if there was some serial killer on the other side, I wasn't going down without a fight. He nodded quietly and unlocked it. As the door opened, I looked behind it and gaped.

Two people stood at the door, blankly staring at us. I took one look at Travis's features, and I deduced that these were his parents…except they weren't. Lack in the olive tan skin common in Latinos, they were stark white pale with colorless eyes. I knew NO ONE had that feature; both of them had bites on their necks, still bloody, and their skin looked clammy. I heard him ask,

"Mom, Dad?" The thing we received in response was a growl and the both of them stumbling towards us, their mouths open. Sapphire screamed, and I shoved Travis out of the way. We both fell to the ground, me falling on him. They weren't fazed by this and they still tried to lunge for us. I looked around quickly and saw a closet bout ten feet from us. With pure adrenaline running through my veins, I jumped up and ran for the door, screaming. They seemed to be attracted to the noise, and they followed. Following my instincts, I reached it and waited for them to come for me. Right before they could touch me, I squeezed out of the way and pushed them inside. They groaned and tried to get me, but I slammed the door shut on them and locked it. They tried to push against it, but it was too strong. Breathing heavily, I turned to the others, only to find them all staring at me. Travis had tears running down his face, and Sapphire was gripping her boyfriend hard, fearful.

"That's not my mom and dad; they looked like them, but it's not…" I nodded and whispered,

"What if this is what they were telling us about on the radio; people are turning into…zombies." I shook my head, trying to see clearly. My hangover was definitely gone, but my head was pounding. All logic and reasoning seemed to go out the window; how the hell was this possible?

"Azura, come take a look at this." I looked up and saw Sapphire on her phone, terrified. I came and took a look. She was watching a video on YouTube called "THE WALKING DEAD". There was a teenage boy running from the zombie thing, but it managed to get a bite outta him. He fell to the ground, where more of those things devoured him. Shaking, I looked at my friend and saw her crying softly. "They're Deados." Confused, Danny asked,

"Don't you mean zombies-" She yelled in anger,

"DEADOS! Zombies sound juvenile. Mom, Amara, Audrey! I hafta check on them!" She tried running out the house, but I held her back. Blood was rushing into my head, and fear pulsed through my body. What if this thing reached my mom, dad, and brothers!?

"Sapphire, I'll drive you guys to your houses-" I interrupted Danny by saying,

"No. I'll drive to my house and check on them. I'll meet you guys at the McDonalds on 41." Sapphire cried out,

"HOW?! You only have a permit! What if you pulled over by a cop?" I shrugged. It really wasn't registering that the world had turned wacko.

"I'll just say what's up. Travis can I borrow your truck?" He nodded numbly, staring at the door where his Deado parents were. Without waiting, I ran outside and jumped in the car. Thankfully, the keys were in the ignition. As I started it up, I saw Danny and Sapphire run outside; they both piled into a black Nissan and look at me. Danny mouthed,

"FORTY ONE." I nodded and started the car. What now?

* * *

As I pulled into the neighborhood, I noticed more of those Deado things roaming around. Thankfully, they didn't seem to notice me too much, so I kept on. When I reached my house, the first thing I noticed was that the front door was open. Knowing that my dad was a stickler for locking doors, I know something happened. My arms started shaking at the thought of my family becoming like Travis's scared the hell out of me. Holding back tears, I run in. At first, I thought the house was empty; then, I heard the signature moaning and groaning of the Deado downstairs in the laundry room. I tip-toed there quickly and saw the son of a gun trying to claw through the trap door that led to the crawl space. That meant someone was there! Without thinking, I grabbed a nearby broom and wacked it on the head. It fell to the ground, moaning. Oh great; I've killed a person. Well, it's not a person-Oh shut up, Azura!

Fearing the worst, I closed my eyes and opened the door. I was greeted with a chorus of "AZURA"s. I opened them and nearly cried with relief. My mother and two brothers sat in the thing, holding each other. I scrambled to them and hugged them all. We held on to each other, and for once, Tyrone wasn't inching away from us. Mikal, the eight year old, had a football helmet on with shoulder pads, obviously meant to protect himself. I grinned and hugged him. Unlike Tyrone, he was pretty normal, definitely more mature than his older brother. Mom whispered,

"When we get out of here, you are grounded." I just laughed lightly and replied,

"Let's first get out of here." She nodded as I led the three of them out of the crawl space. Right as I exited the room, I heard a moan, and before I could warn the rest of them, I heard my mom scream in pain. I spun around and saw the thing ripping a good chunk of flesh from her arm. It was like the world stopped spinning right at that moment. I thought I KILLED him! How…She yelled,

"GET OUT OF HERE, AZURA!" Tears filled her face, but she had a smile on her face. She managed to shove the two boys towards me and whispered, "I love you, my babies. Live. Te quiero mucho." Crying hard, I grabbed them both and ran up the stairs. They struggled against my grip, but I managed to drag them out of the house. We finally reached the truck, and I pushed them in. There were four seats to it, leaving one empty. I sat in the driver's seat and stared at the house. The boys had turned deathly quiet as they sat in their seats. I finally let out a sob as I started it; my vision became blurred, but I couldn't care. My mommy…the one who raised me, was dead. The person I hated! I was so selfish and stupid! How could I? I pulled out of the driveway and sped down the road, not paying attention to my surroundings. The world had disappeared and all of a sudden, the darkness encircled me, making me blind to everything-

"AZURA!" The sudden scream from Mikal made me look up, and all of a sudden, the truck hit another car, making us all jerk. Thankfully, the air bags didn't go out, but unfortunately, I hit my head on the wheel. I whispered in pain,

"Is everybody all right? Mikal said,

"Yeah." Tyrone replied,

"If you count us nearly being killed by zombies and watching our mom die being ok, then, yes."

"ZURA!" Sapphire was by my door, looking terrified. Not even wanting to see my head, I opened the door and said,

"Mom's dead." Then, I saw black.


	2. We Will Survive

I felt cold, like all happiness and joy had left my body. It felt like I was dying, but my body was cruel enough to not finish the job. It basically gave me all the tools of living but left out the purpose to fight. Like, what was the point? I was probably gonna die already; why bother trying to survive?

I hate the feeling of the uncertainty of tragedy. For example, cancer. There are always causes to having the abnormal cell growth, and usually, people follow the rules. Except, there's always a little girl who gets leukemia for no goddamn reason! She didn't do anything but live; is that her punishment for living?! I hate feeling of false security. For all we know, at any moment, our bodies can betray us for the sake of boredom.

I thought that my mom would survive because she was the strongest person I knew. Tough and strong, she would have probably killed all the Deados herself; but instead, she died from being eaten. What kind of plot twist is that? And now, her teenage daughter will take care of her brothers and become a mother to them? What kind of messed-up story was that? Why didn't fate ask me whether I was ready for this; I wasn't even prepared. Mikal is pretty smart, and he knew that whether he liked it or not, he would have to respect and listen to me. Tyrone, though, was a problem. Who gave him all his medicines and kept up with his routine? Mom. Who held him down when he had a melt-down? Mom. Who protected him from the ignorant bastards that judged him? Mom. Now, that was all on me. How can I keep them alive and well without breaking a steady system?

The world we lived in was gone; I knew that now. People eating people...it was an apocalypse. It was bound to be unpredictable; how do we live in a world like this?

* * *

"Azura's been out for five hours; do you think we should wake her up?" Sapphire's voice entered my mind, bringing me to reality.

"No, she's had a rough day. She needs to rest. Where's Amara and Audrey?" Danny's voice echoed through my head, allowing me to wake up.

"In the living room listening to the radio. Tyrone's reading some weird book about ghosts, and Mikal's drawing." She let out a deep breath and whispered, "What's going to happen to us? What if there's no help coming?"

"You can't think like that, Sapphire! We need to keep on believing; they wouldn't leave us to fend for ourselves."

"Danny, be realistic. There wasn't even a living person at the police station; all of them were Deados!" Another sign the world is going to shit: not even the police officers were arresting people on count of cannibalism. Deciding it was time to alert them of my awakening, I rasped out,

"What optimistic people you two are." I opened my eyes and immediately shut them from the abundance of light. My body ached with fatigue, and I yawned. I finally got myself to sit up and let the light in. From what I could see, I was in Sapphire's room. Doctor Who and Big Bang Theory posters decorated the wall, and there was a whole shelf dedicated to her manga. The world may have changed but she still had her geekiness in her room. Grinning to myself, I pushed myself off her bed and walked around. Sapphire and Danny were on the floor, reading through a bunch of maps. Curious, I sat down next to Danny and asked, "What are y'all doing?" He grinned at me and said,

"Good morning. We are looking for places for us to go to after we get word from the city. They've been giving little survival tips via the radio, and I think they're preparing a safe haven of some sort. Fire's not so believing of my theory." I wasn't too much in agreement either, but I kept my reservations hidden. Danny and I had never really gotten along in the past, and I wasn't about to go jeopardizing that. "Travis went to his house to get some food for us to live in here. Unfortunately, Sapphire was about to go grocery shopping before all this happened." Damnit. I should have picked up some food from my house. We had literally just got food from the supermarket.

_You could have..._

I shook out my head, as if that will keep my inner demon from lashing out at me. Trembling slightly, I said,

"I should make a run to the supermarket and get some supplies before everyone else does. If this is like the "end of the world" or something like that, then there's probably gonna be NO ONE there." Sapphire's eyes widened as she hissed,

"You are not going out now; you just got yourself in a car accident! You're lucky it was us who hit you and not someone else." I automatically remembered the incident and touched my head. A large bump lay on my head, making the tender skin hurt. I flinched and put my hand down.

"Sapphire, I actually really have to go. Tyrone needs his medicine, and if he doesn't get them, it's gonna get really ugly here." She gave me pleading eyes, but they didn't work.

"Hey, I'm home!" Travis's voice echoed from downstairs; hearing him gave an idea. I ran out the room and down the stairs and found the guy putting groceries on the table. I said,

"Travis, could you do me a favor?" He spun around and looked at me. "I need to get to my house and get some medicine for my brother. Could you give me a lift? Sapphire's pestering me about going alone." He looked at the couple running down the stairs and gave them a questioning look.

"What's the big deal? She drove her and her brothers here; what's the big problem with her going back?" Sapphire jumped at him and yelled,

"She has a concussion! And she got in an accident driving back; _we_ drove them home." I groaned and tried to cover up the memory of my mother's death; why did everything remind me of her? Fighting back tears, I just said,

"Travis, I'm fine. But Tyrone won't forever; he's gonna go psychotic unless I get his meds. Please?" He gave me a small smile and nodded. I noticed that it didn't reach his eyes however; despite, Sapphire's and Jacobs' protests, he and I ran out of the house, promising to come back soon. I grabbed my iPhone and checked the time, which turned out to be one-twenty five. We got into his Bug, and for the first time, I actually looked at him.

His chocolate brown hair was now a dully muddy brown, and those green eyes that used to calm me now were just as panicky as myself. Fear had eaten away at them, and this was the result. I shakily asked,

"Travis, are you ok?" He shook his head silently as he drove down the road. Before I could help him, he muttered,

"I killed them." Those words pierced the air between us like knives. My heart skipped a beat, and I found paranoia creeping into my skin. "My parents in the closet. As I went to get the food and clothes, I realized that my family died last night; those people weren't them. I thought, 'Would Mom and Dad want me to leave them like that?' It hit me; I had to kill them. It took a while; I found out that you need to hit them through the head. Anywhere else, they won't _die_. That showed me that they truly weren't alive. It helped." With wide eyes, I whispered,

"You killed your own parents?" A little smirk came on his lips as he nodded.

"And a hell lot more people. Actually, I mean Deados. I think we're meant to kill them all; that's like the purpose of this." Oh god, what happened to him? "Zura, you need to accept that we don't live in a stable world; we have to survive."

"Exactly, Travis. We need to survive, not murder. Danny-" He snorted softly as he interrupted.

"Thinks that the government's gonna send for help. Do you honestly believe him?" I looked into his eyes and to my horror, I had to agree. They weren't gonna help us; no one has even prepared for this. They're probably freaking out just like us.

"No, I think they've left us all alone. And it happened way too quickly; it's like a light switch. One moment, things were normal and, now…We're in hell." Travis laughed and said,

"Exactly. We've been sorta screwed over…We need to protect the others. They won't survive on their own." I raised my eyebrows and asked,

"Who said they were gonna be alone? We're gonna help each other. Why would _we _protect them?" We reached a stop sign, and by habit, he braked. As he did it, he laughed and dug out his iPhone and connected it to the radio. The song _In the End_ by Black Veil Brides popped on, and he chuckled.

"What a fitting song." Together we sang along with the song.

_In the end_

_As you fade into the night (oh whoa oh oh)_

_Who will tell the story of your life?_

_In the end_

_As my soul's laid to rest_

_What is left of my body_

_Or am I just a shell?_

_And I have fought_

_And with flesh and blood I commanded an army_

_Through it all_

_I have given my heart for a moment of glory_

_(I gave it all)_

_In the end_

_As you fade into the night (oh whoa oh oh)_

_Who will tell the story of your life (oh whoa oh oh)_

_And who will remember your last goodbye (oh whoa oh oh)_

_'Cause it's the end and I'm not afraid_

_I'm not afraid to die._

_I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid to die_

_Born a saint_

_But with every sin I still wanna be holy_

_I will live again_

_Who we are_

_Isn't how we live we are more than our bodies_

_If I fall I will rise back up and relive my glory_

_In the end_

_As you fade into the night (oh whoa oh oh)_

_Who will tell the story of your life (oh whoa oh oh)_

_And who will remember your last goodbye (oh whoa oh oh)_

_'Cause it's the end and I'm not afraid_

_I'm not afraid to die_

_In the end_

_As you fade into the night (oh whoa oh oh)_

_Who will tell the story of your life (oh whoa oh oh)_

_And who will remember your last goodbye (oh whoa oh oh)_

_'Cause it's the end and I'm not afraid_

_I'm not afraid to die_

_Who will remember this last goodbye (oh whoa oh oh)_

_'Cause it's the end and I'm not afraid_

_I'm not afraid to die_

_Not afraid_

_I'm not afraid to die_

_No not afraid_

_I'm not afraid to die!_

"Azura, I've known you since we were freshman. We're seniors now, and we've gotten to know each other pretty well. You and I? We're fighters; you know how I know that?" My hands started shaking and I shrugged, determined not to expose my fear. All around us, Deados were walking. They hadn't seen us yet, but if we stay here any longer, they would notice. "When the Deados reached my house, you grabbed a knife, ready to fight against anything that hit us. Everybody started looking to you for protection. You're a natural-"

"Travis, get us the hell out of here. The-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" I screamed at the guy as he opened his door and, with a knife, cut open his hand. The smell of blood filled the air and the monsters started running towards us.

"I'm here to show you how exactly we survive." One woman had reached him, and her corpsy teeth were showing out of her decayed mouth. Tears fell down my face at the thought of dying like this, at the hands of people that I could have known once. I cried out,

"TRAVIS!" Without warning, he thrust the knife in the Deado's head, and she immediately fell to the ground. I looked at him in surprise and he was smiling.

"Come on, Azura. Let's show the world that we won't back down easily." He threw another knife at me and I recoiled from the blade. "Zura, do you wanna go get your brother's meds? Then, help me." Travis grinned at the zombified people and ran towards the Deados. I recognized the fun loving teen, but I was sickened by the thought that _this _excited him. Taking a deep breath, I took the knife and jumped out of the car. I froze as I saw Mr. Rogers, my neighbor, stumbling towards me.

His mouth was stained with blood, and those empty eyes were hungrily glaring at me. Tears bubbled in my eyes again; this man had a wife and beautiful daughter, and now he was a monster, driven to kill. What happened to the bubbly five year old and her mother?

"ZURA!" I spun around and Travis was looking at me, expectantly. I yelled in defiance and thought,

_Mr. Rogers, I'll find Madison and April; I promise._

Then, I sprint for the man, blade in hand.

* * *

"See, that wasn't too bad." I ignored Travis in anger as we pulled in my house. I managed to kill at least five Deados, but I hated every moment of it. I just wanted to kill Travis and let the monsters lunch on his corpse. What kind of sicko enjoys the blood and gore of killing people? Hell, they might not be alive, but someone's life is on your hands. As the car stopped, I threw myself out of the car and ran for the open door. Not bothering to look downstairs, I immediately went to the medicine cabinet and grabbed all the medicine for Tyrone. "Zura-" I turned around and promptly smacked him.

"You lousy son of a bitch; how could you? You're getting off of killing people-" He screamed into my face and backed me into the counter.

"THEY ARENT FUCKING PEOPLE! THEY KILLED MY PARENTS!" His chest rose in anger, and I pressed my palms against his chest. "Azura, do you want what happened to my parents and your mom to happen to your brothers?" That whisper made my ears ring. No one has asked me how I was coping with my mother's death; that was the first time anyone had directly mentioned her to me. Water poured out of my eyes as I hissed,

"NO. I'm gonna protect my brothers with my life; I need to." He nodded and said,

"I'll protect you all. You don't have to take them out; what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have made you help me. My parents-" His voice cracked, and he broke down sobbing on me. I let out a cry and held on to him. Together, we both suffered losses; I understood his brief hysteria. Grief made us do horrible things, and we needed to stick together to prevent it from ruining our lives.

As we rocked against each other, I held on to him tightly, trying to block out the hell we were living in.

"Travis, we're supposed to be taking senior photos, going to prom, and cramming for exams-" He chuckled sadly and pulled back from our embrace.

"Zura, at least we don't need to go to school." A little giggle escaped my lips. Yesterday, I was worried about me passing my Physics class; now, we're worried about living a life in a broken world.

"TRAVIS! AZURA!" As we entered the house, I hear Danny scream from the kitchen. We both ran for him, ready to kick some ass, but we found everyone on the table, carefully listening to the radio. Tyrone was shaking slightly, showing his distress, and Mikal was staying close to Sapphire. His soft curly brown hair was messed up, and those hazel brown eyes were glittering with anticipation. Amara, Sapphire's thirteen year old sister, was holding Audrey, the two year old. She was significantly taller than my red head bestie. With dyed auburn colored hair, Amara had blue eyes and white pale skin, giving her the appearance of a mermaid.

_ATTENTION: THERE IS CURRENTLY A SAFE HAVEN IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA. WE HAVE SUPPLIES, FOOD, AND BEDS; COME UNINFECTED. _

Danny whooped with joy while Sapphire cried tears of happiness. Mikal grinned with happiness, and I saw a little smile on Tyrone's face. Amara yelled and hugged the little blonde in her arms. Danny yelled,

"I told you guys that help was coming! We've gotta start packing! Come on, Sapphire!" They ran upstairs, leaving us with the kids. I gave Travis a meaningful look.

"Do you think we should do it?" He raised his eyebrows and scoffed.

"Hell to the no; all I smell is trouble." I nodded softly.

"Good, I was worried that I would be the only one." Amara stopped moving and looked at the two of us.

"You guys aren't coming?"

"Amara, everyone in Georgia probably heard that message; imagine all the survivors clamoring to the city…it'll get ugly." Understanding in her eyes was seen and she nodded. Mikal however didn't get it.

"But, Azura, what if Dad's at the city? We could meet him! They are giving us help; why are you guys doubting it?" A desperate look crossed his face, and I groaned. This wasn't going to be easy.

"What's going on?" Sapphire had arrived with two suitcases. "Why haven't you guys started packing yet?" Danny followed her, wearing a confused frown. Travis said,

"Azura and I don't think it would be the smartest idea to go to a city filled with survivors; what if they start turning people away?" I rose to back him up.

"Listen. People will do anything to survive; things might get ugly. I mean, look outside!" We all opened the curtains and saw people running out of their houses, determined to reach Atlanta. So far, the whole neighborhood was rushing for the haven. "Imagine the chaos that will be waiting for us-"

"It's worth a shot." Amara whispered softly. "If it doesn't work out, we run. That's all to be done; we just can't throw away an opportunity like this." God, what could I do? Everybody wanted to go; what if something happened?

"There are too many 'what if's. Azura, do you think we should try it?" Travis looked at me with questioning eyes, obviously placing his trust in me. I sharply exhaled and groaned.

* * *

"Everybody, come on, in the cars!" Danny and Sapphire were in the black Niisan with Amara and Audrey, while Travis and me were planning on driving the black truck. We decided to try our luck with Atlanta, but Travis and I both agreed that we were gonna get the hell out at the first sign of trouble. We forced Danny and Sapphire to promise that if we said "GO", they would come with us. Together, we were a group, and I was hell-bent on keeping every member. I packed clothes for all my brothers and rationed out food and snacks. Tyrone wasn't too hot on us breaking up his daily routine, but I promised him that he could play his game boy the whole time. That gave him incentive to stay quiet during the drive. As we were about to go, I yelled,

"CRAP!" Travis pressed the brake of the car sharply and asked,

"What?"

"I forgot my phone inside; gimme one second." He groaned in annoyance.

"The world's ending, and you're worried about your Facebook status?" I shoved him playfully and ran into the house quickly. I found the device on the kitchen table; mildly irritated from Travis's comment, I decided to _check _Facebook for updates from the government. As far as I could tell, a few of my friends were still alive since they were posting little notes of encouragement every few hours. Perhaps they were headed for Atlanta as well.

"WALKERS!" The sudden scream forced me to look out the window to see a whole herd of Deados running towards all the cars. People were screaming like crazy, and I even saw a few people go down. I sprinted to the car; Danny and Sapphire were speeding away, and Travis looked like he was about to. I jumped into the car, but I felt an arm pull onto my leg. I yelled as I saw the thing try to bite my ankle. I managed to kick it away from me, and I shut the door closed.

"GO, GO, GO!" The driver sped off, leaving bunches of Deados trying to follow. I was crying again, and I heard Tyrone ask,

"Are you sad?" I gazed at my little brother as he stared at me blankly. One symptom of Asperger's: no understanding of social and emotional interaction. I could be crying right in front of him, and he couldn't figure out that I was sad. I merely chuckled softly and said,

"No, Tyrone. I'm scared." He nodded in recognition and went back to his game. "Mikal, Tyrone's medicine is in there right?" He checked the glove compartment and grinned.

"Yep!" I nodded and looked ahead. I heard a cough and looked to the side. Travis was giving me a confused stare, gesturing towards the elder brother. I sighed and rubbed my face.

"Tyrone has Asperger's syndrome; it's a type of autism; he doesn't think like we do."

"Ahh…I see. So that crap makes him act 'normal'." I shrugged.

"As normal as he could be…I suppose." He kept on driving, and I couldn't help but look out the window, watching my hometown run away from me. Here in Valdosta, it would take a long while to get to the city, so I settled for a long drive. All around us were women, men, and children screaming for help; all I wanted to do was help them, but our supplies were scarce.

Bored, I plugged in my music and listened to _A Drop in the Ocean _by Ron Pope. I allowed my mind to escape this hell we were living in.

**There goes chapter two!**


End file.
